At the Pools of Segoy
by Old Toad
Summary: Strange occurrences in The Immanent Grove lead to the meeting of Sparrowhawk the Archmage and Aslan the Lion. A ring is taken from its bearer.


_**Author's Note:**_ _I have written this assuming that the reader will be familiar with The Magician's Nephew but has yet to read A Wizard of Earthsea._

 _The Immanent Grove is an important feature of Earthsea. For the purposes of this crossover I have presumed that it encloses the Pools of Segoy, which have not been mentioned by Le Guin. This story is set immediately following the events of The Tombs of Atuan._

All may see it but few have entered in: only wizards go there. It is said – and it is so - that it is larger inside than out: the Immanent Grove is unchanging yet ever in motion, ever growing but timeless. The Master Patterner, one of the nine mages of Roke Island, lives within it and none are more attune to it. He is Master of the Grove.

One day a subtle, momentary shiver passed through the Grove, deep among the trees magic had been released. The Patterner sensed it with some disquiet, and went to investigate. His feet led him to the Pools of Segoy, a secret place of ancient magic in the centre of the Grove – if it could be said to have a centre. Here there are many small, shallow pools of water beneath the trees. All seemed as it should be, nothing was disturbing the peace of the place.

Long ago, Segoy, called 'First Lord' and also 'Doorkeeper' and 'Maker', raised the islands of Earthsea from the waters. He, it is believed, planted the Immanent Grove. He may have created the Pools which bear his name, but even the Patterner knew little about them. One old tale he knew told that his great work complete, Segoy went to the Pools within the Grove and from there left Earthsea. How this was accomplished the tale did not tell, but it is widely believed that Segoy 'ever returns to Earthsea'.

Next day, the Master Patterner felt another disturbance in the Balance, again momentary but greater than before. He hurried directly to the Pools. On the way there was a repetition; now he was in no doubt: something he could not ignore was happening at or close to the Pools of Segoy. The Patterner was no frail elder but a sturdy man, he ran staff in hand.

The following day he gave an account to Archmage Sparrowhawk as the two of them walked from the Great House and into the Grove:

"The first I noticed was childish voices raised in anger. I made myself inconspicuous and approached. There were two children, a boy and a girl, nine, ten years old, and they quarrelled. Each was head to heel in strange clothes, like nothing I have ever seen. From the paleness of their faces I took them for fellow Kargs, though the boy was dark haired. I listened: they spoke in True Speech!

"They held hands and stepped into a pool, only to get their feet wet. I almost gave myself away in laughter. But they tried again and at once dropped down into the pool, and I felt that disturbance in the Equilibrium. I went to the pool to look into it, only to see them re-emerge. I hid behind a tree."

Sparrowhawk grinned at the thought of the dour, unsmiling Patterner having to suppress a laugh. "Why hide?" he asked.

"I wanted to know if there was an enemy before revealing myself. A powerful sorcerer or one of the Nameless Ones."

"And you soon found out?"

"The children descended into another pool, naught but a puddle. When I tried, the water scarce wet my boots. I could find no way to descend. After an hour the children re-emerged, and with them a tall woman, richly dressed."

"Ah! The sorceress you spoke of?"

"Yes, Lord. Fortunately I was able to overcome her before she became aware of me. She had barely the strength to cling to the children when they made yet another descent into a pool."

"And that is it?"

"All I saw, but making my way to the Great House twice I felt yet greater shifts in the Balance. I hazard that several, more than three or four together, entered the Grove through the Pools and left by the same way."

"Our quiet Grove has become quite a crossroads. How do you read all this?"

"Each time the disturbance in the Balance is stronger. The first was but a feather touch. The last … well the novices in the Great House should have felt it. However, none did; so I think the disturbance is within the Grove only."

"I would have been sailing into Roke harbour about then; I felt nothing. But you have avoided my question: what do you think is happening?"

"In the Immanent Grove the roots of the trees go deep and - some say and so I believe - mingle with the roots of all trees in all the worlds there may be. The Pools of Segoy go to the roots and so to other places, other worlds."

"Perhaps. But why so many pools, why not just one?"

"I think, my lord, that each Pool is the gateway to a different world."

"So we have travellers from another world?" asked Sparrowhawk, now striding down a narrow woodland path ahead of the Master Patterner. "Someone has found the magic to use the Pools, perhaps for the first time since the Making. Why now I wonder?"

"We are there. The light is a little brighter, the leaves greener around the Pools."

"So they are, and I can feel the buzz of magic around us. Old magic, but not malign."

"We Kargs do not disparage the old powers as do you men of the Hardic Lands."

"Not I. I have felt their strength." Sparrowhawk looked around. "I have never been here before. So many little ponds."

Sparrowhawk stopped abruptly, hearing voices among the trees. They cautiously picked their way forwards. Between the trees they saw two children, outlandishly dressed, and apparently in conversation with someone they did not see. Sparrowhawk went left and Master Patterner to the right, both seeking the other person. As they did so they lost sight of the children: in the blink of an eye they had vanished.

Sparrowhawk found himself confronted by a large, full-maned lion. He stood his ground and the two stared at each other. A skilled wizard of Earthsea can change his form at need: Sparrowhawk could fly as a bird of prey. The Archmage had no doubt that the lion he faced was no beast, but a powerful sorcerer. As bird Sparrowhawk could not speak, but the lion could. Its voice was deep but quiet, so that only Sparrowhawk could hear him.

"You have done well, Ged. You have risen from goatherd to Archmage and dragonlord. You have wisdom, dearly bought. You work for the good of all Earthsea, but remaking an old amulet is only the start. You know this. A king is needed in Earthsea, but that will not be enough. An ancient wrong, the work of wizards long ago, has to be overturned. That will be your great task."

"You spoke my true name, who are you?" asked Sparrowhawk.

"I have many names in the many worlds. I am Maker."

"My Lord," said Sparrowhawk, going down on one knee. "My Lord, what is this ancient wrong?"

"You will discover it. I give you a hint and a warning: Earthsea is not man's domain alone, it belongs also to the dragons." The lion paused a moment and then continued. "These Pools will not be used again for many years. Do not concern yourself with them now. However, within the Grove there is a small ring bearer. Find it and relieve it of its burden. Do not try the ring, but treasure it, you may one day have a need for it."

Sparrowhawk had the sensation of the lion's face getting larger and larger and nearer and nearer, filling his vision, but as he put out a hand to touch it it was gone, and he was left alone beneath the trees.

When Master Patterner reached him Sparrowhawk was still on one knee, clutching his staff for support. He leapt to his feet as soon as the Patterner laid a hand on his shoulder, shaking his head as one roused abruptly from a trance. "Azver," he said, using the Patterner's name, "Did I speak with Segoy himself? Am I deluded? What did you see?"

"Through the trees I saw a great lion, and saw it vanish like an illusion. But there can be no illusion in the Immanent Grove. I heard nothing. What was said between you?"

"I will tell all before a conclave of the mages. But the last He said was to find 'a small ring bearer' in the Grove and 'relieve it of its burden.' I do not clearly know what we hunt, but let us attempt that task before I return to the Great House."

After hours of diligent searching, when both men began to think they were on a fool's errand, a small animal with brown and white fur was seen and taken. It was calm and docile, obviously used to handling, though no such animal was known in either the Archipelago or the Karg lands. They untied the ribbon around its fat little body and took the mysterious yellow finger ring. With silent unanimity they put down the creature and let it go free.

That guinea pig may yet roam the Immanent Grove on Roke Island, which is set in the Inner Sea of the Archipelago of Earthsea.


End file.
